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Idris Elba Reveals His Original Idea For Knuckles In Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Actor Idris Elba had a bit of trouble finding Knuckles’s voice for Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Movie.

In an interview with the New York Times, Elba opened up about the process behind finding his voice for the beloved echidna, who takes on a villainous role in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

"I actually wanted to try to play [Knuckles] with a squeaky voice,” Elba said. “I thought that might be funny. But they didn’t think that was funny and that idea got nixed immediately. But we did try different voices, cadences, accents. Knuckles isn’t a big talker, but when he does speak, he’s very blunt."

Elba, best known for his roles in The Wire and Luther, referred to himself as “one hundred percent” a gamer and discussed his excitement to star in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the interview. As Elba noted, he grew up with a Sega Genesis, so the Sonic franchise is right up his alley. He’s also excited to share the movie with his 7-year-old son, who hasn’t been able to watch much of Elba’s R-rated filmography.

In our review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, we praised Elba's performance, writing, "He brings a certain gravitas to the role, but also gets some of the funniest lines in the movie as the hilariously self-serious echidna."

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is in theaters now, and this movie certainly isn’t the end for the acclaimed series. In line with Sega’s plans to form a Sonic Cinematic Universe, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is already in the works alongside a Knuckles-focused spin-off, both of which Elba (without his squeaky voice) will return for.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN.

Posted in Uncategorized

Idris Elba Reveals His Original Idea For Knuckles In Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Actor Idris Elba had a bit of trouble finding Knuckles’s voice for Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Movie.

In an interview with the New York Times, Elba opened up about the process behind finding his voice for the beloved echidna, who takes on a villainous role in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

"I actually wanted to try to play [Knuckles] with a squeaky voice,” Elba said. “I thought that might be funny. But they didn’t think that was funny and that idea got nixed immediately. But we did try different voices, cadences, accents. Knuckles isn’t a big talker, but when he does speak, he’s very blunt."

Elba, best known for his roles in The Wire and Luther, referred to himself as “one hundred percent” a gamer and discussed his excitement to star in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the interview. As Elba noted, he grew up with a Sega Genesis, so the Sonic franchise is right up his alley. He’s also excited to share the movie with his 7-year-old son, who hasn’t been able to watch much of Elba’s R-rated filmography.

In our review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, we praised Elba's performance, writing, "He brings a certain gravitas to the role, but also gets some of the funniest lines in the movie as the hilariously self-serious echidna."

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is in theaters now, and this movie certainly isn’t the end for the acclaimed series. In line with Sega’s plans to form a Sonic Cinematic Universe, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is already in the works alongside a Knuckles-focused spin-off, both of which Elba (without his squeaky voice) will return for.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN.

Posted in Uncategorized

Sonic Director Would Like To Make a Super Smash Bros Movie

Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler has said he would be interested in working on a Super Smash Bros. film adaptation but admits there would be a few legal hurdles to overcome.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Fowler was asked if he would ever like to helm a big-screen adaptation of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, having just come off the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, which he directed following the first installment in 2020. He indicated that he was open to the idea of a crossover, though there would be a few logistics to consider.

"Nothing would make me happier than to just throw all the characters into a battle royale and do a big Smash Bros. thing. That would probably require some work from the lawyers before that could happen," Fowler said, contemplating what it would involve. "Getting Mario and Sonic in the ring, I mean everyone would be kinda dying for that, right? That's just classic."

As the outlet notes, Sega owns all of the characters from the Sonic franchise, but Nintendo owns Super Smash Bros and many of its associated characters, so there would likely be quite a few legal permissions to check off in order to merge the two in one film. Mario is, however, making his way to theaters later this year in an animated film from Universal and Illumination.

Nintendo is also said to be exploring animation projects beyond Super Mario, and early reports suggest Seth Rogen might be getting his own Donkey Kong movie. The project is reportedly already in the works at Illumination — the same animation studio that is working on the Super Mario Bros. movie starring Chris Pratt as everyone's favourite Italian plumber.

Sega is also at work on several spin-offs and sequels for its burgeoning Sonic Cinematic Universe. It's already been revealed that a third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is in development, while a Knuckle spin-off is in the works for Paramount Plus, with Idris Elba returning to voice the role of the red echidna following his first outing as the character in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now in theaters with a wide April 8 release date, and the film will apparently be "chock full" of Sonic 2 game references as the sequel is expected to lean more into Sega's source material than the first Sonic movie installment, which IGN rated a 7 out of 10, calling it "a fast-paced joyride that'll ring in entertainment for both fans and children."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Posted in Uncategorized

Sonic Director Would Like To Make a Super Smash Bros Movie

Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler has said he would be interested in working on a Super Smash Bros. film adaptation but admits there would be a few legal hurdles to overcome.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Fowler was asked if he would ever like to helm a big-screen adaptation of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, having just come off the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, which he directed following the first installment in 2020. He indicated that he was open to the idea of a crossover, though there would be a few logistics to consider.

"Nothing would make me happier than to just throw all the characters into a battle royale and do a big Smash Bros. thing. That would probably require some work from the lawyers before that could happen," Fowler said, contemplating what it would involve. "Getting Mario and Sonic in the ring, I mean everyone would be kinda dying for that, right? That's just classic."

As the outlet notes, Sega owns all of the characters from the Sonic franchise, but Nintendo owns Super Smash Bros and many of its associated characters, so there would likely be quite a few legal permissions to check off in order to merge the two in one film. Mario is, however, making his way to theaters later this year in an animated film from Universal and Illumination.

Nintendo is also said to be exploring animation projects beyond Super Mario, and early reports suggest Seth Rogen might be getting his own Donkey Kong movie. The project is reportedly already in the works at Illumination — the same animation studio that is working on the Super Mario Bros. movie starring Chris Pratt as everyone's favourite Italian plumber.

Sega is also at work on several spin-offs and sequels for its burgeoning Sonic Cinematic Universe. It's already been revealed that a third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is in development, while a Knuckle spin-off is in the works for Paramount Plus, with Idris Elba returning to voice the role of the red echidna following his first outing as the character in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now in theaters with a wide April 8 release date, and the film will apparently be "chock full" of Sonic 2 game references as the sequel is expected to lean more into Sega's source material than the first Sonic movie installment, which IGN rated a 7 out of 10, calling it "a fast-paced joyride that'll ring in entertainment for both fans and children."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Posted in Uncategorized

Announcing IGN Playlist

Gaming is one of the most enjoyable hobbies on the planet, and if you’re like us at IGN, you’re also playing an ever-growing amount of games, in more places than before. But with hundreds of games on subscription services, and new titles being released every single month, how do we keep up, and how do we know what the heck we’ll like?

So we’ve spent the last year bringing our product and engineering teams together, gearing up to help gamers make sense of it all, and are ready to get it in your hands. We call it: IGN Playlist – a place for all of your games, across the major platforms.

Available Now

We know gamers are trying to organize their libraries through homebrew solutions in spreadsheets and notes documents, and Playlist is built to leverage the scale and reliability of IGN’s vast catalog of titles from the past 25 years of gaming. We wanted to create a product people could trust to house their libraries, and help them discover, track, share, rank, and curate lists to share with their friends. Check out the areas of Playlist below to get an idea of how it all works.

Discover — Discover is Playlist’s homepage for finding new games. It’s updated weekly to surface interesting lists, new and upcoming games, and other fun and interesting categories to help people find their next favorite game or keep up with what IGN’s covering.

Library — Any game on IGN can be added to user libraries. Playlist users can track what they want, own, play, pause, beat, and quit. They can share the game, add it to a list, and more.

Playlists — Playlists are a great way to curate, share, and rank games. Users can create ranked and unranked playlists, and share playlists to social media, Twitch profiles, Discords, and more. IGN Playlist also aggregates the hours of game time of user lists, powered by HowLongToBeat.com

Community Ratings — Playlist lets players rate what they liked, and what they didn’t about games they play. People can select from a number of descriptors and aspects of games so they can remember their experiences. Games with enough ratings will show the most loved aspects of a game.

Guides — Any time someone marks a game as “playing”, Playlist will automatically include available IGN guide content in the “My Guides” page to provide quick access to game help, to help them make it through their backlog.

This Is Just the Beginning

IGN’s Product vision is to help people enjoy more games, movies, and shows, and share their experiences with each other in fun, inclusive ways. From learning about games through our editorial coverage to saving time with IGN’s game guides, IGN Playlist is the next step in your gaming journey.

We’re sure that as you all spend time with Playlist, you will surprise and delight us with all of the awesome, funny, niche, and weird playlists you all cook up. Do you already know what your first Playlist will be? Let us know in the comments!

Check out Playlist from our navigation, or Get started right here

Posted in Uncategorized

Announcing IGN Playlist

Gaming is one of the most enjoyable hobbies on the planet, and if you’re like us at IGN, you’re also playing an ever-growing amount of games, in more places than before. But with hundreds of games on subscription services, and new titles being released every single month, how do we keep up, and how do we know what the heck we’ll like?

So we’ve spent the last year bringing our product and engineering teams together, gearing up to help gamers make sense of it all, and are ready to get it in your hands. We call it: IGN Playlist – a place for all of your games, across the major platforms.

Available Now

We know gamers are trying to organize their libraries through homebrew solutions in spreadsheets and notes documents, and Playlist is built to leverage the scale and reliability of IGN’s vast catalog of titles from the past 25 years of gaming. We wanted to create a product people could trust to house their libraries, and help them discover, track, share, rank, and curate lists to share with their friends. Check out the areas of Playlist below to get an idea of how it all works.

Discover — Discover is Playlist’s homepage for finding new games. It’s updated weekly to surface interesting lists, new and upcoming games, and other fun and interesting categories to help people find their next favorite game or keep up with what IGN’s covering.

Library — Any game on IGN can be added to user libraries. Playlist users can track what they want, own, play, pause, beat, and quit. They can share the game, add it to a list, and more.

Playlists — Playlists are a great way to curate, share, and rank games. Users can create ranked and unranked playlists, and share playlists to social media, Twitch profiles, Discords, and more. IGN Playlist also aggregates the hours of game time of user lists, powered by HowLongToBeat.com

Community Ratings — Playlist lets players rate what they liked, and what they didn’t about games they play. People can select from a number of descriptors and aspects of games so they can remember their experiences. Games with enough ratings will show the most loved aspects of a game.

Guides — Any time someone marks a game as “playing”, Playlist will automatically include available IGN guide content in the “My Guides” page to provide quick access to game help, to help them make it through their backlog.

This Is Just the Beginning

IGN’s Product vision is to help people enjoy more games, movies, and shows, and share their experiences with each other in fun, inclusive ways. From learning about games through our editorial coverage to saving time with IGN’s game guides, IGN Playlist is the next step in your gaming journey.

We’re sure that as you all spend time with Playlist, you will surprise and delight us with all of the awesome, funny, niche, and weird playlists you all cook up. Do you already know what your first Playlist will be? Let us know in the comments!

Check out Playlist from our navigation, or Get started right here

Posted in Uncategorized

Former PlayStation Boss Reveals His Best and Worst E3 Moments At Sony

Former US PlayStation CEO Jack Tretton certainly had his share of ups and downs at Sony. While his tenure was filled with more highs than lows, PlayStation certainly had its tough moments between 1995 and 2014.

In a new interview with Axios, Tretton shared some of those moments, recalling some of his best and worst moments from E3. They include the PlayStation 4 reveal, which managed to deal a devastating blow to the hopes of the Xbox One before the generation even began.

The reveal included the "Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video", which mocked Microsoft's DRM policy of restricting used games (which the company eventually reversed). The PlayStation 4 also managed to undercut the Xbox One by around $100 due to Xbox's console including the Kinect.

"I have a lot of friends at Microsoft now and had a lot of friends then, and I wasn't necessarily looking to do it at their expense. I was just feeling really good about it," Tretton said.

But times weren't always so good for Tretton. In 2011, PlayStation suffered a 23-day PlayStation Network outage due to a hack that left some 77 million accounts exposed. PlayStation endured heavy criticism for the event and wound up offering 30 days of free PSN to all members among other make-goods.

Tretton opened E3 by apologizing for the event. "While that was necessarily a tough message to deliver, I thought it had to be said."

Elsewhere, Tretton reflected on some of his other projects at Sony, which he felt were "orphaned a little bit" and weren't given the necessary attention they needed. He cited PlayStation Vita's low sales and the slow adoption of PlayStation's virtual reality headset as examples of such projects.

"There were certainly technologies that I thought were good but just didn't have the level of support they needed," he explains, talking about how some of them lacked the marketing budget they needed and other support.

Tretton left Sony in 2014 and is now part of the Interactive Gaming Ventures, a fund working closely with indies with a mission to acquire an independent studio. While acquisitions are a hot venture as of late, with both Xbox and PlayStation announcing steady acquisitions like Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and Bungie, Tretton doesn't see this trend as a negative. He is currently looking to buy a billion-dollar game company himself.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey